


it's clear from here

by Boj



Category: Hockey RPF, Women's Hockey RPF
Genre: Gopher Women's Hockey Team - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 10:04:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11689386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boj/pseuds/Boj
Summary: Lee was a natural born leader, according to many people. She couldn’t argue against it but sometimes she wished she could step away from being captain, only for a little while. It was a lot of work, making sure everyone was happy. But, she pushed through because she knew she could and because people were counting on her.





	it's clear from here

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the 2016-2017 season.

Lee was a natural born leader, according to many people. She couldn’t argue against it but sometimes she wished she could step away from being captain, only for a little while. It was a lot of work, making sure everyone was happy. But, she pushed through because she knew she could and because people were counting on her. Besides, it was rewarding most if not all of the time. Her teammates were great, so were her coaches, and Kate and Dani were the best assistant captains she could ask for.

They had practice three days out of the week and the other two days were weights or conditioning unless they had to travel for away games. She liked all three equally, and tried to make sure everyone else did too. That part was a bit tricky, but everyone knew what they were doing on and off the ice would help themselves and the team out, so they complied. It was a Tuesday, which meant they had on-ice practice instead of weights. Lee headed down the stairs towards the locker rooms, scrolling through the calendar on her phone.

She had a physiology quiz on Thursday, and had to pickup her other classwork because they would be leaving Friday for their series against North Dakota. They had pushed practice up to an earlier time on Wednesday afternoon which meant she would have to leave class early and come back to talk to her professor afterwards. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to get rid of a headache that had been plaguing her since lunch, and looking at her packed calendar wasn’t doing it any good. She hoped she could grab some Advil out of the locker room without anyone knowing. She didn’t want to play twenty questions with her teammates, especially Dani, who noticed everything.

Lee headed to the locker room when the coaches door swung open and Bethany appeared.

“Hey Lee!” Bethany looked down at her watch, “you’re here early, practice doesn’t start until 3 today.”

“Yeah, my class ended early and I thought I'd get some studying in before.”

Bethany nodded, “good idea. Well I’ve gotta run, we have some new drills we’re planning to try out at practice today.”

“Alright, sounds good.” Lee affirmed as Bethany started down the hallway.

She was about to punch in the code for the locker room door when Bethany whirled around. “Oh! I almost forgot, the guys are using are locker room today so you’ll have to wait until 2:30 to get in. I’ll get Dean or somebody to stick a sign on the door.”

Lee sighed, her headache wasn’t getting any better and she’d have to wait even longer to grab some Advil. But, she didn’t want to make it into a big deal so she flashed Bethany a thumbs up and turned into the team room instead.

She flicked on the lights and winced at the brightness. Setting down her backpack, she made her way over to the couch. In an attempt to ignore the pounding behind her temples, she pulled out her physiology textbook and tried to review the past few chapters.

The words soon blurred together and Lee slammed the book shut in frustration, realizing her mistake when she flinched at the loud noise. She slid the book back into her backpack, and glanced at her phone. It was 2:15, and her teammates would be arriving soon. Lee glanced back the the couch, the worn leather looking inviting. She slipped off her shoes and flicked the lights off, emitting a sigh of relief as soon as the florescent glare left her vision.

She set the timer on her phone for 15 minutes and curled up underneath a fleece blanket she was pretty sure one of the Rachel’s had made during their freshmen season. Lee was trying to ignore the pulsing pain in her head and was about to doze off when the door slammed open. She bit back sigh when her teammates spilled in loudly, turning on the lights.

“Lee?” She was pretty sure it was Sophie, she tended to get to Tuesdays practices earlier because she didn’t have class in the afternoon.

“Shhh, she’s sleeping!” That was definitely Emma.

“Not sleeping,” Lee mumbled, cracking open her eyes and immediately slamming them shut as the light reached them.

“Lee, are you okay? You look pale,” Emma noted.

Her cheeks flushed with the embarrassment of getting caught being sick by her teammates, “headache. M’fine.”

“You want me to turn the lights off?” Sophie whispered.

Lee nodded gratefully, and then grimaced, the motion setting off a new amount of pain in her head. She could hear Sophie's footsteps as she walked to turn off the lights.

“Should I get Emily?” Emma asked and Lee hesitantly opened her eyes to see the concern on her face.

Lee definitely didn’t want their trainer coming to check on her. “No,” Lee struggled to find the right words, “fine, .. waiting out..be better at practice.”

The young goalie looked at her quizzically, confused that her captain that usually had a such a great way with words was struggling putting together a simple sentence. “You’re fine and waiting it out so you can feel better in time for practice?”

“Yes.”

“I’m gonna get Dani, you really don’t look good.” Sophie stated as Emma nodded in agreement.

Lee closed her eyes.

—— —

"Lee? Sophie said I should come check on you, something about a headache?” Dani whispered, shutting the door behind her.

“M’fine, just a small headache,” Lee spit out the words, glad she finally remembered how to put a sentence together.

“Well, practice starts in ten minutes so I’m gon-“

“Ten minutes? I-I need to get ready!’ Lee grimaced at the sound of her own voice and struggled to sit up. Blood rushed into her head and she grabbed for the couch, desperate not to swoon.

“Whoa, whoa, Lee, calm down. It’s alright!”

Dani’s attempts at calming her went unnoticed as Lee stumbled to her feet, swaying ever so slightly.

“Lee! Please!” Dani grabbed onto her arm, trying to steady her.

A whimper escaped past her lips as Dani’s voice increased in volume.

“Sorry, sorry. Look, there’s no way you should go to practice today, you can’t even stand up!”

Lee wrenched her arm out of Dani’s grasp, the movement sending spikes of pain into her skull. “ I. . .need to go!”

“You’re sick! You can miss one practice, just sit down, please.”

Lee ignored her advice, she had to go to practice, she couldn’t let her team down. She staggered towards the door, clutching onto the door frame.

Dani moved to stand in front of the tall defensemen, blocking her only exit. “Lee please,” her voice came out in a hash whisper as she grabbed onto Lee’s arm again, “you can’t do this to yourself.”

Lee tried to shake her off, her head throbbing with every moment. Her vision blurred and the floor suddenly felt very close.

“Lee? Shit, hold on.” Dani looped her arm underneath Lee’s shoulder, depositing her gently on the floor.

Lee buried her head in her arms, her long legs bent underneath her awkwardly.

“I’m getting Emily, this is ridiculous.”

Lee didn’t even try to argue, she knew it was pointless when Dani had set her mind to something.

— — —

Lee could hear the locker room door opening and closing, and the soft thud of skate blades as her teammates made their way onto the ice. Dani had slipped outside and she overheard her talking to someone.

“—can you grab Emily? Tell her to come to the team room."

She rubbed her eyes, trying anything to get rid of the pulsing pain that had settled behind her eyes.

“--tell Frosty?”

“Yeah, that’d be great, thanks again Kelly.”

Lee curled up on the floor, not caring how dirty the carpeting was and shut her eyes as tightly as she could.

— — —

“Lee? Oh honey…” Emily’s concerned whisper woke Lee up.

She looked glassy-eyed up at Emily, who had crouched down to get onto her level.

“Dani said you have a headache?”

Lee stuck out one finger for yes, she had learned her lesson about trying to nod in response before.

“One for yes, two for no?”

She stuck out a single finger again.

“Okay, I’m gonna list some symptoms and I want you to honestly tell me if you’re experiencing them or not.”

Lee made the “okay” sign with her fingers, grimacing as she shifted around, trying to block out as much light as possible. She stuck out one finger for throbbing head pain, blurry vision, sensitivity to light and dizziness. Nausea received a “so-so” and she affirmed she hadn’t hit her head recently.

“This sounds like a typical migraine, have you ever had one before?”

Lee had migraines before, a couple around finals time in high school and one during her year with team USA around the time they decided the final roster. She stuck out one finger and then followed it up with five fingers.

“Yes, you’ve had five migraines before?” Emily muttered to herself, sounding even more concerned then before.

Emily asked a few more questions and Lee answered the best she could.

“Okay, so a small background of having migraines, no family history of them and usually caused by stress. Have you taken any form of pain relief yet? Like Advil or Excedrin?”

Lee wished she had.

“Do you have any medicine prescribed for migraines?”

She stuck out one finger then two.

“Yes and no?” Emily sounded even more confused.

“Not. . . here,” Lee whispered.

“Okay. I’m gonna go grab a few things and I’ll be right back. Are you okay for right now?”

“Yes. Thanks.” Lee murmured as she shut her eyes once more.

— — —

Somewhere between Emily leaving, returning and leaving again to find a different type of pain killer, Lee found herself once again curled up on the couch, unsure of how she got there.

She could hear voices outside of the closed door, but they sounded muddled and far away. The door opened softly and shut even quicker.

Lee remained curled underneath the blanket, hopeful it was Emily with the right medication.

“Hey Lee. We’re sorry you’re not feeling so great right now, and everyone hopes you feel better soon.” Coach Frost’s rough whisper carried across the room from his position by the doorway. “You scared Dani pretty bad, I don’t think she was expecting to have her captain almost faint on her today,” he chuckled softly to himself and Lee heard the door click open. “I’ll leave you alone to get some rest, I think Emily will be heading back in here soon.”

— — —

Frosty was right, Emily slipped back into the room, followed by Dani who looked even more concerned than before.

Lee barely moved from her position on the couch, shivering underneath her lone blanket.

Dani leaned over, careful not to jostle her as she piled a few more blankets onto Lee, hoping to provide some warmth for her captain.

“Hey, Emily’s got some medication for you, do you want to sit up to take it?”

Lee just stuck out her hand, took the pills and a swig of Gatorade from the paper cup that was placed in her palm.

Dani and Emily settled themselves at the small table, keeping a careful eye on Lee and talking in the quietest whispers they could manage.

— — —-

Lee fell into a fitful sleep due to the pain medication. She found herself momentarily awake, sipping Gatorade out of a straw or swallowing more medication before she blacked out again. She had no idea of what time or day it was and woke up panicky, forgetful of where she was. At one point, she found herself hunched over a trashcan, retching up the protein bar she had for lunch, while someone pulled her hair away from her face. Her head hurt from the sudden movement and there was something streaming down her face, tears maybe? Everything was blurry and Lee was in too much pain to care.

— — —

She woke up again, the familiar waves of nausea rolling over her as she searched for a trash can in a panic.

“Lee?”

She gagged in response, struggling to fight the bile rising in her throat.

“Here, here,” a trash can was thrusted at her, just in time as Lee emptied the contents of her stomach, and then dry heaved for what felt like the next five hours.

She slumped back into the pillows that had somehow appeared and closed her eyes.

“Lee? Can I take your shirt off? It got a little dirty. I have a new one right here, if you stick your arms up, it’ll just take a sec.”

Lee complied, stuck her arms up, shivered as the cold air touched her bare torso and sighed in relief when a new, warm and soft shirt was placed over her head, and gently tugged down. She stopped shivering.

— — —

Lee woke up with a bitter taste in her mouth and the ability to think significantly more clearly than before. She wasn’t sure where she was, and blinked as her surroundings come into focus. Lee was still in the team room, her head still hurt and the couch was surrounded with Gatorade bottles, a trashcan Lee didn’t even want to think about and Dani. Lee blinked again, and glanced back at her assistant captain, who was asleep on the floor. The floor with its gross layer of thin carpeting that covered a solid layer of cement.

Lee stared at the ceiling, willing herself not to cry. She cleared her throat, "Dani?"

The winger wasn't as asleep as Lee thought and she suddenly appeared in her line of vision. “Lee?! Are you okay? Do you feel like you’re gonna throw up again?”

“No, no I’m fine. S’okay.” Lee mumbled, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

“Really? You're feeling better?”

"Yeah, a little. My headache’s not as bad. ” Not as bad still felt like ten bricks were stacked on her head but it was definitely an improvement.

Dani visibly sighed in relief, scrubbing a hand over her weary face, “that’s good to hear.”

It was then Lee noticed the dark circles underneath her eyes, the uncharacteristically messy ponytail and that she was wearing what appeared to be Dani’s own shirt.

“Is this your shirt?”

“Yeah, you kinda threw up on your’s last night and this was the first one I grabbed out of the locker room.”

“Last night?”

“Lee, it’s,” Dani swiped her phone off the table and looked at the time, “about 10:45 in the morning right now, it’s Wednesday. “

“10:45? Don’t you have class at 11:00? What are you still doing here? You’re gonna be late!” Lee’s voice rose in pitch, the panic clearly evident.

“It's alright," Dani said soothingly, "Frosty emailed my professors, I can miss one day of classes, it's fine."

"You already had to stay here the whole night and miss practice, you shouldn't have to skip class too," Lee argued, carefully sitting up on the couch as Dani handed her a fresh Gatorade.

“Look, I didn't have to stay here last night and nobody forced me to miss class or practice.

Lee looked at her in disbelief, "then why are you here?"

"Because that's what friends do, we take care of each other. Emily had to leave last night, something came up with her kids and there was no way we were getting you back to the apartment. Frosty agreed and then I offered to stay with you because everyone else had already left. It's fine," she stressed.

Lee’s voice quavered while she asked, “did you really sleep on the floor?"

"Only for a little while.”

Lee swallowed hard, trying her best to ignore the bile slowly rising in her stomach and the dampness in her eyes.

“Hey, are you good? You look kinda green. Was the Gatorade too much? Do you need the trashcan?” Dani rambled, much too concerned and close for Lee’s liking.

“No, I’m okay,” she said softly, her eyes suddenly filled with tears which wasted no time trickling down her cheeks, leaving dark splotches on her—Dani’s shirt.

“Lee?” Dani’s voice was quiet, scared, “you don’t look okay.”

“I’m. . .” she swiped angrily at her cheeks,”I-this isn’t right.”

“What?”

“This,” she gestured wildly around the room, “you’re not supposed to be sleeping on the floor or giving me your shirt or cleaning up after me or any on this!” She trailed off, choking on her sobs.

“Lee. . .”

“It’s embarrassing! Okay? It’s embarrassing when you miss practice because of a headache and when your teammates find you practically passed out on a couch,” she sniffed, letting out a shuddering breath.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s alright okay? It’s alright,” Dani said soothingly, wrapping her arms around Lee and pulling her into a hug.

She protested, “I’m supposed to be taking care of you guys though, not the other way around.”

Dani held her an arms length away, forcing her to make eye contact. “You can’t do everything okay? I know you want to, but look what happens! It’s not healthy. Sometimes you have to let other people help you, and that’s perfectly fine, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

Lee sighed, she knew her assistant captain was right, she always was.

“Now that that’s settled, Emily’s gonna be here at 12:00 to check you out, so just hang out until then okay?”

“What am I supposed to do for an hour and a half?”

Dani unzipped her backpack, and pulled out her notebook, “I’m gonna do homework, but you’re under strict orders to rest until Em gets here.”

Lee shot her a weak glare but reluctantly resumed her spot on the couch with minimal complaining. Dani figured it was a good start.

— — —

“…so then he asked me if I was on the tennis team and that’s when I knew..,” Katie was trying to explain about her chemistry lab partner to anyone in the team lounge. Emma and Sophie looked like they were actually interested while Dani was only half-heartedly listening, cramming to finish her economics notes before practice started.

A door slammed outside down the hall, and Dani thought nothing of until she remembered Lee was getting checked out by Emily. The door to the team lounge suddenly swung open and Lee appeared, still looking pale and frustrated, an emotion that Dani had rarely seen on her older captain’s face.

“Lee!”

“We missed you!”

“Are you practicing today?”

Her teammate’s voice clambered over each other as they innocently questioned their captain. The last question turned Lee’s face stoney and her gaze became even colder. Dani knew that was her cue, and stood up from her spot in the corner, shooing everyone out with bribes of extra ice time after practice. The door shut and Dani turned around to face Lee.

“What’s up?”

Lee was still wearing Dani’s shirt—she tugged on the too-short bottom before giving up and crossing her arms. “I can’t practice! I can’t even watch! I just. . . ” she complained, trailing off as her annoyance got the best of her.

“Thought you would miraculously be better to play a full contact sport? Not even 24-hours after you almost passed out because of a migraine? Which, by the way, you neglected to tell anyone about until it got really bad?”

“I-“

“Thought that you would attempt to demonstrate how to be a ‘great’ captain by going to practice and play, even though you still look like shit and have a equally shitty headache?” Dani interrupted.

Lee glared at Dani, her fists clenched at her sides, “practice is about to start, you better go.”

Dani grabbed her backpack, turning to glance back at Lee before she stepped into the hallway.

“Don’t be late,” Lee called after her, not even attempting to hide a wince as the door slammed shut.

— — —

Lee slipped into the hallway with her wet, post-shower hair dripping down her back. She had exchanged Dani’s shirt for a sweatshirt of her own and had almost made it through the team lounge door when-

“Lee?”

_Shit._

She turned around to find Bethany looking at her suspiciously.

"I thought Emily said you were supposed to be resting?"

Lee sighed, "yeah, I was resting. I just wanted to take a shower and get some clean clothes."

"Well, make sure you're resting on that couch by the time practice ends. I'm sure Emily and Dani will be happy to give you plenty of reasons why you should be if they catch you up and about."

Lee couldn't help but frown at the name of her assistant captain, but she just nodded and turned to head back into the team room.

"Hey, Lee wait a second." Bethany called after her, sticking out her hand to hold the door open. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing. . . well, it's just. . .“

"Let me guess, you and Dani got into a fight? Now you're not talking and you're worried about how to resolve whatever problem you're having?"

"Wha-how'd you know?"

Bethany laughed knowingly, "because the same thing happened to me when I was captain. Well, I didn't have a migraine, just a rough cold that I refused to tell anyone about until I almost passed out during a workout. " She gestured at Lee, "I was a lot like you, too stubborn for my own good. Anyway, Bailey about ripped me a new one once she figured out what had happened. We had a whole fight about it, didn't talk for thee days and finally figured out that we needed to talk in order to help the team. Funny how that works huh?"

Lee laughed softly, "yeah, I guess so."

Bethany patted her on the shoulder, “let me know if you need any help, okay?”

“Okay,” Lee said, slipping though the open door. She sat back down on the couch, left alone with her thoughts and wet hair that dripped down her neck.

— — —

Lee was busy packing up her backpack with leftover homework to notice when Dani stepped into the room.

“Hey...”

She looked up, “oh, I was just packing up my stuff, Emily said I could go back to the apartment as long as I keep her updated.”

“That’s good.”

"Yeah," Lee set down her backpack, “hey look, I’m sorry about before. I was just frustrated with…with everything I guess.”

“Yeah, I could tell,” Dani gave a soft smile, “I just wish you’d stop being so stubborn sometimes.”

She laughed, “careful, you’re starting to sound a lot like my mom.”

“What’s so bad about Linda?”

“Admittedly, not a lot,” Lee answered, holding open the door for Dani as they stepped out into the hallway. She turned to face her, “so..are we all good?”

Dani looked up at her, her face serious and Lee felt disappointment seep into the stomach. This was it, she’d blown it and now Dani would nev-

“Only if you buy me Lucky Charms.”

“Only if I- wait what?”

Dani laughed, “Lucky Charms, you know? The ones with the marshmallows? We’re all out of them at the apartment.”

“Oh,” Lee let a small smile cross her face, “yeah of course I’ll buy you guys Lucky Charms.”

“Great! I know you only eat that gross bran stuff, but Lucky Charms are a classic, ya know? They just can’t be beat,” Dani exclaimed, as they reached the top of the stairs.

“A classic huh? I don’t know about that,” Lee questioned as they headed out down the sidewalk.

“Oh for sure! Trust me, Lucky Charms are a staple in every kitchen!”

Lee zipped her coat up tighter as they crossed the street, “I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”

Dani giggled and soon they were both laughing, which didn’t stop until they entered the grocery store. One box of Lucky Charms and a couple of blocks later, Lee was immediately mobbed by her teammates as soon as she stepped foot into their apartment.

“Lee!”

“Guess what Kelsey did at practice yesterday!”

“Mom! You’re back!”

“Lucky Charms, yes!”

“We missed you!”

Lee smiled, she had missed her teammates and even through she struggled to admit it, she did feel better after taking a day off from everything. She mouthed a quick “thank you,” to Dani from across the room, laughing as Dani just held up her bowl of Lucky Charms and flashed a thumbs-up back.


End file.
